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On their arrival in the Morea, the Frankish Crusaders found a fortified city named Lacedaemonia (Sparta) occupying part of the site of ancient Sparta, and this continued to exist, though greatly depopulated, even after the Prince of Achaea William II Villehardouin had in 1249 founded the fortress and city of Mystras, on a spur of Taygetus (some ...
Sparta entered its long-term decline after a severe military defeat to Epaminondas of Thebes at the Battle of Leuctra. This was the first time that a full strength Spartan army lost a land battle. As Spartan citizenship was inherited by blood, Sparta increasingly faced a helot population that vastly outnumbered its citizens.
For most of its history, the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta in the Peloponnese was ruled by kings. Sparta was unusual among the Greek city-states in that it maintained its kingship past the Archaic age. It was even more unusual in that it had two kings simultaneously, who were called the archagetai, [1] [n 1] coming from two separate lines.
Leonidas I (/ l i ə ˈ n aɪ d ə s,-d æ s /; Ancient Greek: Λεωνίδας, Leōnídas; born c. 540 BC; died 11 August 480 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. He was the son of king Anaxandridas II and the 17th king of the Agiad dynasty , a Spartan royal house which claimed descent from the mythical demigod Heracles .
Socrates said the "most ancient and fertile homes of philosophy among the Greeks are Crete and Sparta, where are found more sophists than anywhere on earth." [ 46 ] The state provided public education for girls and boys, and consequently, the literacy rate was higher in Sparta than in other Greek city-states. [ 47 ]
Opposition to Sparta enabled Athens to establish a Second Athenian League. Finally Thebes defeated Sparta in 371 BC in the Battle of Leuctra. But then the Greek cities (including Athens and Sparta) turned against Thebes, whose dominance was stopped at the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) with the death of its military-genius leader Epaminondas.
Despite being a significant figure in Roman history, no contemporary sources exist, and all accounts were by those not directly involved, significantly later, and without perspectives from slaves or eyewitnesses. Little is known about him beyond the events of the war, and surviving accounts are contradictory.
Sparta (Greek: Σπάρτη, Spárti) is a city and municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece.It lies at the site of ancient Sparta within the Evrotas Valley.The municipality was merged with six nearby municipalities in 2011, for a total population (as of 2021) of 32,786, of whom 17,773 lived in the city.